


i want to witness the beauty of your repair

by 8moons2stars



Category: Red Velvet (K-pop Band)
Genre: F/F, Mild Smut, More-Night-Stands, Rain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-07
Updated: 2020-02-07
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:55:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22559776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/8moons2stars/pseuds/8moons2stars
Summary: Seungwan presses her face against her clothed chest, feeling the heavy weight of whatever Joohyun is carrying and wishing she could take it off her hands. “What can I do?” she murmurs, throat constricting as she embraces Joohyun tightly. “Let me help you."Or; when rain falls,  Seungwan helps Joohyun forget.
Relationships: Bae Joohyun | Irene/Son Seungwan | Wendy
Comments: 12
Kudos: 183
Collections: Sonshine Prose





	i want to witness the beauty of your repair

**Author's Note:**

  * For [birdii (birdmint)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/birdmint/gifts).



> for the #chasethemoongalaxybiird lyric!fic challenge.
> 
> prompt word count: 3,333
> 
> squash's lyrics for me:
> 
> _I want to witness the beauty of your repair._
> 
> _\- Never Look Away by Vienna Teng_
> 
> if you could listen to the song, please do! i tried to incorporate the rest of the lyrics from the song into the story as well :)
> 
> the 3,333 words may not have been enough to give this some solid story development, but...ya know...we make do with reading between the lines haha
> 
> HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ACE!!!!!!!!

Seungwan takes a lengthy sip of her wine, sighing as she feels her shoulders finally relax for the first time that day. She rolls them tight against her blazer just as someone occupies the seat one barstool away.  
  


The bartender approaches the new customer for her order, and Seungwan absentmindedly taps her fingers to the jazzy instrumental playing in the dimly lit bar, stuck in her own work-exhausted woes.  
  


The abrupt slamming of a shot glass on the counter makes her jerk, and she turns to regard the person beside her curiously. The first thing Seungwan notes is how alluringly messy the girl’s ponytail is, like it’s been tied since this morning and has gone through the struggles of the day just like its owner. Strands have come loose and frame her delicate face in the prettiest manner, and Seungwan thinks a powder blue button-down has never looked better on anyone.  
  


A contrite grimace is vaguely directed towards her before two fingers lift to signal the bartender for a refill.  
  


“Rough day?” Seungwan asks, her mind skipping all sense of precaution and shame. She regrets it immediately when the woman’s spine visibly stiffens, already rejecting her unwanted attention. She quickly focuses back to staring at her glass of wine, an apology already forming on her lips when she hears a low voice speak.  
  


“Rough week, more like.” Seungwan turns to see a wry smile on the woman’s face as her shot glass is generously refilled by the bartender.  
  


Seungwan is just grateful that she wasn’t asked to shove off. “Ah. Sorry about that.” Makes up her mind to just keep it at that and stop bothering her; she probably didn’t come here to seek company anyway. They nurse their drinks for several minutes of silence, and it’s not Seungwan who breaks the quiet.  
  


“When should you give up on someone?” pretty woman asks out-of-the-blue, turning to fully face her. And only then does Seungwan notice how her eyes seem resigned and dim, like she knows the answer to her question but just needs to hear it from someone else, even from a stranger like her.  
  


“Um. In what context? Are you friends?” Seungwan decides to play dumb, not wanting to assume even if she already has. Like it’s a sin to be judgmental of people seeking solace in bars.  
  


The woman chuckles bitterly. “Yes. But I want to be more than that. A lot more than that.” She downs her shot with a wince. “But she’s getting married.”  
  


Seungwan pulls a well-timed face, pretending she didn’t expect that. However, disappointment still surprisingly churns in her gut, and she tries to tamp it down as she thinks of an appropriate response. “I think you can’t force yourself to move on from things like this; you will give up when you’re ready. In the meantime, you can just…find things to distract yourself with? Maybe with work or…other people.”  
  


She mentally pats herself on the back for her good-enough response, simultaneously wondering if she should just leave and wash away the aftertaste of dejection with a lone movie night at home, preferably with her hand down her pants—de-stressing at its finest.  
  


“…Other people?” the woman repeats, eyebrows furrowed in the cutest way.  
  


“Yeah? Like…you know…” Her hands make the vaguest hand gestures known to man, but understanding finally dawns on the pretty woman’s eyes and Seungwan is relieved that she doesn’t have to expound further than that.  
  


“…Oh.” The woman hums, regarding her closely, and Seungwan tries not to fidget. The indirect proposal is subtle, yet Seungwan still hopes against hope that she doesn’t have to drop by the store for some microwave popcorn tonight.

***

The rich taste of tequila coats Seungwan’s tongue as the woman— _Joohyun,_ she corrects herself; _her name is Joohyun_ —licks into the roof of her mouth, leaving her weak at the knees.  
  


They press each other against walls of elevators and hallways, against unidentified wallpaper colors of a dimly lit hotel room before they fall into bed, rumpling once-pristine sheets, skin now slick against skin.  
  


Seungwan shudders as feverish hands trail a path of fire; lifts her leg to pull Joohyun in closer, sighing in bliss as their bodies press in heat, in frantic desire. She bites on a collarbone she’s been dying to trace with her tongue, swallowing Joohyun’s groan the moment it leaves her lips.  
  


Joohyun is rough yet pliant, her kisses desperate and hot and borderline delirious. Seungwan doesn’t mind—even welcomes it—the heady rush of hands and lips with only the most carnal intentions in mind.

***

Joohyun dreams of dark hair and matching eyes, pulling her down, down, down, dropping her into an abyss that transforms into a howling cliff where she’s thrown off—the waves crash against her ears and muffle her screams as she wakes, beads of sweat forming beneath her hairline despite the freezing cold of the hotel room.  
  


She sits up quickly, black and white spots marring her vision—disoriented, shivering, and very, very naked.  
  


Her brain finally catches up after a few moments of lag, and she turns to regard the blonde hair and pale forehead peeking above the sheets, the only visible part of the woman from the night before who’s responsible for the ache in her thighs and the soreness of her jaw.  
  


_What was her name?_   
  


Joohyun blinks away fatigue, feeling exposed even when her bedmate is softly snoring away unawares.  
  


As quietly as she can, she changes back into her clothes, mind spinning from flashes of the night before.  
  


The sex was good, as far as she can recall.  
  


It wasn’t _her_ , but it was good.  
  


She hesitates by the door, debating on whether to leave her number, a note, _anything._ She’s not used to having one-night stands, but there is surprisingly no aftertaste of regret.  
  


She settles for a small grateful smile directed the sleeping figure’s way.  
  


Only on the elevator down does she remember.  
  


_Seungwan._   
  


_Her name is Seungwan._

***

A storm brews on Tuesday; lands on Wednesday.  
  


Joohyun hates the rain. Hates the way she used to anticipate it, how she learned to love it, looking forward to shared umbrellas after work, the unbridled laughter despite the unprotected shoulders drenched by downpour.  
  


Now she sits at her lab and waits for the rain to stop, waits for nary a drizzle to touch her, afraid that it will wound her.  
  


She hangs her lab coat by the door and begins to settle in as lightning flashes and thunder rumbles. Plays a song a touch too loud to drown out the crashing waves and whistling cliffs.  
  


Even so, her hands have a mind of their own, and she scrolls down her contact list. Holds her breath when she reaches what she wishes and doesn’t wish to find.  
  


Right below her name is another so strange yet familiar.  
  


_Seungwan._   
  


She saved her number after all.  
  


Her finger moves, up and down, up and down.  
  


Lightning sparks, thunder roars.  
  


She presses call.

***

They don’t make it to the bed this time.  
  


Joohyun bites her lip just as a moan tears through, head pressing against the back of the couch, gripping Seungwan’s hair as the woman sinks into her wetness with her tongue with lethal precision.  
  


The hotel room is illuminated when lightning strikes without rain, and Joohyun’s heart falters.  
  


She pictures black hair, matching eyes—her blood runs cold, then hot, then so, so dark. And she can’t breathe—  
  


She gasps and clutches on silky hair with a desperate and probably-painful hold, and Seungwan _doesn’t know_ , rewards her instead with a groan of approval that’s so unlike her voice, and it’s _not_ her—of course it’s not; how could it be?  
  


Joohyun snaps back into what is real and here and now. _Seungwan_ is real, knees on the carpet before her, eyes closed and mouth moving against her in reverence and Joohyun tries not to look away. Succumbs to what is real and tangible and what is offered to her on a moonlit platter, and lets go.

***

They order a late dinner and eat it on the couch, a feast of beef and soup and Joohyun’s favorite tteokbokki that Seungwan pays for, just like this hotel room and the one before it.  
  


“So, you’re a microbiologist?” Seungwan asks her as she chews on some bulgogi.  
  


“Yeah.”  
  


“I didn’t peg you for a nerd.” Seungwan laughs at the expression on Joohyun’s face, the former’s eyes sparkling in jest. “But I guess I should have known.”  
  


Joohyun narrows her eyes, lifts her chopsticks in warning. “Why?”  
  


“You kind of have this…sexy scholar vibe. The button-downs, the jeans. Swoon.”  
  


Joohyun doesn’t know if she should be offended. Seungwan leans in to tuck the half-open bathrobe closer to Joohyun’s chest, probably noticing the goosebumps dotting her skin, and Joohyun promptly forgets what she’s supposed to be annoyed about.  
  


Seungwan smiles again, and it’s soft and sweet which is so contradictory to how rough she gets when Joohyun asks for it, over and over.  
  


Joohyun presses her thighs together, cheeks flushing at her immediate reaction to wayward thoughts when they’ve already done it far too many times tonight. Her neck burns hot when Seungwan’s eyes darken knowingly as they follow the shifting of her legs.  
  


“What’s your job, then?” Joohyun’s voice is rough and she should be subtler but she can’t be. She’s transparent in front of this almost-stranger and it’s scary but it’s also _not._  
  


“I’m an accountant,” Seungwan replies, gaze fixed on her pressed thighs.  
  


Joohyun can’t give up so easily and let her win. “That’s nerdy too!” she accuses.  
  


“Yeah, well, I like math.”  
  


“How…boring,” Joohyun retorts halfheartedly, and she almost chokes on her own words because Seungwan finally decides to make her move, fingers splaying on her thigh underneath the robe and now it’s suddenly too hot and she fervently wishes for Seungwan’s _very boring_ fingers to move up and in.  
  


Her fingers press harder, blunt nails digging in and Joohyun opens her legs in invitation, in surrender.  
  


Maybe it’s okay to lose, sometimes.

***

Seungwan stirs her cold cup of coffee needlessly, pinching the bridge of her nose underneath her glasses in distress.  
  


The rain pounds relentlessly against the windowpanes of her apartment, and usually the muffled sounds would be soothing, but in this moment it does nothing to alleviate the headache beginning to form at her temples, brought on by the financial reports she’s had to pore over since this morning, and now even after she’s home from work.  
  


Maybe a warm cup of coffee will help. Or jumping out the window.  
  


She chuckles humorlessly just as her phone buzzes with a message, one that may be the key to the best option out of all.  
  


_Joohyun: Can I come over?_

***

Joohyun is drenched.  
  


And not in the way she usually is, not in the way Seungwan wants her to be; she’s standing in front of Seungwan’s apartment, soaked by the rain from head-to-sneakers, lips quivering and looking so lost that the reprimand at the tip of Seungwan’s tongue fizzles out immediately.  
  


“Are you okay?” she asks instead, trying to usher her in so she can begin piling her up with a mountain of blankets.  
  


But Joohyun all but lunges for her, lips shuddering as they press against hers, the touch of cold making Seungwan gasp. She feels her sweater soak through with the rain Joohyun brought with her, but she doesn’t think twice about pulling Joohyun closer, trying to give her the warmth she seems to need.  
  


She’s pushed towards the couch, and Joohyun immediately straddles her lap once she’s sat down. Their kisses taste like fire and rain, and Seungwan’s glasses fog up with the intensity of everything. Not that she needs to see anything, not when there’s a beautiful woman in her arms who just makes her _feel._  
  


She presses her mouth against Joohyun’s neck to where Seungwan knows she is most sensitive—above her collarbone and right where the cord of muscle protrudes when her breath catches in pleasure—while her hands trail hotly along her sides, under her damp hoodie to reach wet skin—up, up her ribs to where—  
  


Seungwan groans as Joohyun keens, and Seungwan stops moving as her mind spins with realization. “No bra…” she whispers, thumbs circling on sensitive tips that has Joohyun grabbing at her hair for dear life. “You were walking around…like this?”  
  


“I was… I didn’t… I needed to get to you,” Joohyun replies softly, even as her hips undulate against Seungwan’s stomach like the physical embodiment of sin.  
  


“God, Joohyun-unnie.” Seungwan stares up at her in awe, at her flushed face and dark eyes that have not stopped looking so lost since she arrived.  
  


Seungwan presses her face against her clothed chest, feeling the heavy weight of whatever Joohyun is carrying and wishing she could take it off her hands. “What can I do?” she murmurs, throat constricting as she embraces Joohyun tightly. “Let me help you.”  
  


She feels tears burn at the back of her eyes when Joohyun pulls her face away so they can look at each other. Wishes she could smile when Joohyun ineffectively tries to adjust the crooked glasses on her face.  
  


Joohyun leans in and kisses her, so softly that it feels like a dream. “Make me forget,” she says against her lips. “Please.” Her voice shakes, and Seungwan breaks.  
  


“Okay,” is all she says, as she lifts the jacket off of Joohyun, immediately pressing her back against her body to ward off the cold.  
  


“Okay,” she whispers before she kisses Joohyun again, tongue trying to spell out those four letters as they tangle with hers.  
  


She sinks her four-letter promise onto Joohyun’s skin, into Joohyun’s heat, making sure Joohyun forgets her heartache as long as she’s with Seungwan.

***

In those few precious minutes, Joohyun does forget, with Seungwan’s promise branded on her skin.  
  


She forgets about dark-haired girls with matching eyes pulling her into an unknown abyss of the deepest heights, even just for a little while.  
  


With Seungwan, Joohyun throws herself of a cliff, yet it doesn’t hurt to fall apart.

***

For the first time in a long time, Joohyun has a dreamless sleep.

***

The summer rain is unyielding, and Joohyun sighs as it pounds against the roof of the science building, trapping her again on another day that’s just like the others.  


She’s sifting through her playlist, lab coat on the way to its hanger when her phone flashes with a call.  
  


_Seungwan._   
  


“Hi,” she says through the phone, hoping the smile on her face transmits through.  
  


“Hi, unnie. Are you okay?” The static is bad, but Joohyun hears the worry loud and clear; she turns to the windows to look at the same dreary sky Seungwan must be seeing.  
  


“Yeah. Yeah, I’m okay. Just letting the rain pass.”  
  


“In your lab?”  
  


“Yeah.”  
  


“At the Seoul Science Building?”  
  


“Yeah.”  
  


There’s a long pause before Seungwan’s next reply comes: “Would you like me to drive you home?”  
  


Joohyun opens and closes her mouth in surprise, unprepared for the offer. “Uh. No, it’s okay. Really. I’m used to waiting it out and—”  
  


“I’m actually here already. Outside your building. I mean, you can say no. But I can bring you home rather than you just wasting your time there.”  
  


Momentarily struck speechless, Joohyun doesn’t respond for a long while, and she feels it in the way Seungwan’s succeeding voice sounds resigned at the end of the line.  
  


“I’m sorry, unnie. I didn’t mean to… I’m sorry. I’ll go and—”  
  


“Can you give me five minutes?” Joohyun rushes out breathlessly, chest heavy with some inexplicable weight that she’s never really felt before; it’s not of heartache, not of despair. It’s unknown and strange and she doesn’t know what to do with it.  
  


“Okay,” Seungwan replies softly, and the weight settles on her chest like it belongs there.

***

“I-I didn’t drive you home just to do this, unnie,” Seungwan tries to reason while Joohyun tugs on the button of her jeans, tongue languidly tracing the vein on her neck.  
  


“I know.” Joohyun’s lips lift in amusement. “You and your good intentions, Seungwan.” She pulls the zipper down and dips her hand inside, gut clenching at the sound of Seungwan’s whimper.  
  


Seungwan grips her wrist tightly, eyes rolling back as her head gently thumps against the wall.  
  


“Thank you, though, Seungwan-ah. Really.”  
  


“Y-you’re welcome,” Seungwan grunts out in reply, jaw clenched tight. Her cheeks are flushed the prettiest shade of pink and Joohyun can’t help but lean in for a kiss.  
  


“More?” Joohyun grinds the heel of her palm harder, but not enough.  
  


“Please,” Seungwan gasps. “Don’t stop.”  
  


“Okay.” Joohyun whispers against her hair, sinking her fingers in as she makes Seungwan fall.

***

“You know, you don’t have to go.”  
  


Joohyun glances at Seungwan’s reflection through the mirror, beautiful Seungwan in her pastel pink lace dress, sitting with her legs crossed at the edge of Joohyun’s bed. Joohyun smiles before she focuses back on putting on her earrings. “But I’m the maid of honor.”  
  


“Weddings cannot survive without a bride or the other bride, but weddings can survive without a maid of honor.”  
  


Joohyun clasps her earring before she turns to face her fully. The way Seungwan drinks her in makes her knees wobble, but she tries not to let it show; maids of honor shouldn’t be late to weddings because of sudden bouts of lust. “I know,” she begins, walking towards Seungwan who uncrosses her legs to allow her to stand between them. “But I won’t bail. I had ample months to bail.”  
  


Seungwan looks up at her, worry evident in the wrinkle between her brows and the pout on her lips. Joohyun can’t help but kiss them both away, one after the other.  
  


Their lips part against each other’s, warm and tender but not a prelude to the usual things they prelude to. And now Joohyun doesn’t see black hair with matching eyes behind closed lids; she only sees golden hair her fingers love to tangle themselves in and eyes mapped out with endless constellations; she sees hands that guide her back from the edge of the cliff that threaten with crashing waves below.  
  


“I think I can get through it as long as you’re there,” she whispers without warning, before her brain can catch up to her heart.  
  


She’s suddenly hit with uncertainty, about revealing too much too soon and the consequences thereafter—but Seungwan’s entire face lights up at the gravity of her words, and she pulls her in for another kiss, one that feels universally different from the last.  
  


And for the first time in a long time, Joohyun isn’t afraid to fall.  
  


When they pull apart for air, Joohyun succumbs to the burst of bravery, and asks, “After the wedding…would you like to go on a date with me?”  
  


“A date?” Hope shines in Seungwan’s eyes, and Joohyun nods fervently.  
  


“Yes. If that’s okay with you.”  
  


Seungwan traces her cheek with the brush of her fingers, and Joohyun’s eyes flutter closed. “I don’t put out on the first date, though.” Joohyun opens her eyes to a playful smirk that she matches with a half-hearted attempt to get out of Seungwan’s embrace.  
  


“Okay, boring nerd accountant. I’m not putting out either.”

***

Joohyun dreams of childish laughter tinged with warmth and wakes to the sound of rain heavy against windowpanes. Arms are wrapped securely around her form, her back pressed to a soothing front while their legs tangle beneath rumpled sheets.  
  


The rain falls harder: lightning flashes, thunder rumbles, but Seungwan’s heartbeat thumps loudly against her skin, her soft, steady breaths drowning out the storm until it becomes as threatening as a lullaby in Joohyun’s ears.  
  


She snuggles herself closer, and even in her sleep, Seungwan reciprocates, wraps her hands tighter around her like she never wants to let go.  
  


Joohyun drifts off again to the calming rhythm of Seungwan’s heart.

**Author's Note:**

> please check out the rest of the challengers' stories:
> 
> galaxygerbil's fic: [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22597495)
> 
> chasethesun's fic: [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22597858)
> 
> revelbiird's fic: COMING SOON


End file.
